Heading into 2023, the Atlanta Falcons were seen as a donut team – a big hole in the middle where the quarterback should be.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank splashed the cash in the offseason to fill that hole with $100-million guaranteed to former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins.

ESPN’s Mike Clay deems Cousins as the most impactful newcomer, free agent or draft pick, in the NFL.

“The implications of Cousins to Atlanta can’t be overstated,” wrote Clay on ESPN+. “The Falcons immediately became the NFC South favorites after the deal, and we should now see the true potential of recent top-10 draft picks Bijan Robinson, Drake London and Kyle Pitts. Cousins led the NFL with 18 passing touchdowns prior to suffering a torn Achilles last season, and he will help an Atlanta team that was 25th in QBR last season (41.2).”

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Cousins’s 4-year, $180-million contract looks like a relative bargain after the big money deals signed by Trevor Lawrence, Jordan Love, and Tua Tagovailoa in recent weeks. Cousins carries a $25-million cap hit in 2024 for the Falcons, less than the $28.5-million dead cap hit the Vikings are taking on Cousins this year from void years in his last contract.

Atlanta has the flexibility to get out from Cousins’s contract in two years with mitigated cap ramifications. The idea is for the then-38-year-old Cousins to hand the reins to No. 8 pick Michael Penix Jr.

Clay’s ranking of Cousins as the No. 1 new addition in the NFL runs counter to his analytics colleague Seth Walder who graded the Falcons as having the 29th best (or 4th worst) offseason in the NFL.

We wrote at the time: “If a team fills its biggest need, at the game’s most important position, with the No. 2 ranked free agent, on a financially manageable contract… it warrants a grade significantly better than bottom five in the NFL.”

Seems Clay would agree.

The Falcons first opponent of the season is the Pittsburgh Steelers who look to be starting Russell Wilson in Atlanta on September 8th. Wilson checked in at No. 21 on the list, with Clay hedging his bets, not putting Wilson higher, in case Justin Fields wins the job in Pittsburgh.

Atlanta and Pittsburgh had arguably the worst quarterback play in the NFL last season. The NFL scheduling gurus made sure to amp up the storylines for Week 1 pitting two-new starters against each other while disgraced-former head coach Arthur Smith conducts from the Steelers sidelines.

Will Cousins live up to the hype of being the most impactful newcomer in 2024? If he does, the predictions of the Falcons winning the NFL South should come true.

ATLANTA – Atlanta police released video on Friday of one of their officers successfully talking a woman down from hurting herself, as she had a knife pressed against her own chest.  

“Put the knife down for me and grab my hand,” APD Officer Harding can be heard saying on his bodycam video.  

He was trying desperately to talk a woman down from hurting herself as she holds a knife against her chest, seemingly ready to stab herself.  

“I don’t want you to hurt yourself, you’re precious, you’re a precious human being,” Officer Harding tells the woman on the video.  

On June 27, Officer Harding responded to the call of a missing woman being spotted at around 11:30 a.m. at an address along Paces Ferry Road. 

She had been reported missing by her family only an hour before. 

Once he encounters the woman sitting along the Chattahoochee River, he immediately tries to make her feel safe.  

“I’m serious, there’s too many people that love you. I’m here to help you,” he says to her.   

“I was so impressed and so moved by watching this officer have such compassion for this woman who was clearly in incredible pain,” said Atlanta psychotherapist Laura Morse after she watched the video.  

She says the way Officer Harding starts the encounter with the woman was key.  

“He chose to engage her personally, to let her know that he saw her, that he knew that she was in trouble, that he cared about her,” Morse said.  

At one point, Harding says to her, “God loves you, we love you.”  

Later, Harding sits down in front of her before continuing to talk to her, essentially slowing down the whole interaction.  

“He provided hope for her, and he was patient. He waited for her to come around instead of forcing an agenda or charging her,” said Cori Ross, LCSW.  

Ross says the officer’s patient approach not only calmed the woman down, but also allowed him to act calmly. 

“So, by slowing it down, he creates calm in his body, he’s able to access his rational brain, get in touch with the situation, not feel threatened,” Ross said.  

These two experts say his approach is what eventually allowed Harding to get her to surrender the knife and climb off the riverbank.  

“Can I have the knife? Let me have the knife. Let me have it, thank you!” he says to her as she hands him the large knife.   

Even after making her safe, Harding continues to reassure her.  

At one point she calls herself “a failure.” However, Harding reassures her and tells her “God doesn’t make failures.”  

Eventually he gets her to paramedics and mental health clinicians who are standing by.  

“It is everything that you hope an interaction would be when it’s regarding mental illness or mental health issues,” Morse said.  

Officer Harding has been with APD since 2009.  

The Department says what he did relates to their de-escalation training, which officers have to complete annually.  

Both Morse and Ross say they hope law enforcement agencies will learn from this interaction. 

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga – Efforts continue in metro Atlanta to provide free Narcan, the drug that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.  

Doreen Barr, the founder of “In Ryan’s Name”, was recently seen stocking a metal box outside The Healing Bridge Clinic in Peachtree City, where it will be available to the public for free 24/7. Barr’s son, Ryan, died eight years ago of an overdose of opioids laced with fentanyl. She says he had been a college athlete who became addicted to painkillers after an injury. 

This was the 12th box provided by the organization Georgia Overdose Prevention, many of them around metro Atlanta and throughout north Georgia. This one contains fentanyl test strips, Narcan nasal spray as well as injectables. This is the first box in Peachtree City and Barr says it’s the second in Fayette County, where her family has lived for over 30 years. 

Peachtree City Police say they’ve seen a huge jump in drug use since the COVID pandemic. 

Felony drug charges are up 158% in four years, and DUIs involving drugs up 94% in the same time; police say this is playing out in every community. 

First responders say they are seeing the life-saving potential of Narcan, and they say making it widely available for people to have in their homes is crucial. 

The Healing Bridge Clinic in Peachtree City, where the box is located, is one of the largest providers of free medical care in metro Atlanta. 

The Narcan is free to anyone and should be kept in the home and available if needed.